Love's Magic by Traci E. Hall Read Free Book Online

deliberately caused. He pressed further, not trusting her to hold a promise. “Do we have a bargain?”
    “Yes.” She bowed her head.
    He turned his back on her and walked away.

    It was a beautiful afternoon for a wedding, Celestia thought absently. It was too bad that the wedding had to be for her. Father Jonas was to perform the ceremony outside in Galiana’s flower garden, with the entire manor in attendance.
    “Ela! Stop fussing, please. My hair is fine.”
    “Just this last sprig of honeysuckle … there. Oh, you are beautiful.”
    Celestia gave her image a cursory look in the polished silver. She supposed she would do, not that it mattered. The baron had ensured that she marry his son, but why her? With his title, he could have forced a much better match for money and land, and perhaps beauty, too. She lifted her chin. Her sacrifice would be for the good of her family, and she would live with her choice without whining. All right, she told her conscience, mayhap a few private tears, but she would put on a good face.
    Numb, Celestia followed her sisters down the stairs. Galiana looked ravishing in a pale yellow silk dress with flowing sleeves. Her headdress made her seem even taller and more regal. Ela, her head covered in a light green silk kerchief, walked as if she were leading her sister to the gallows. The bouquet of spring daffodils shook in her hands.
    Celestia lifted the hem of her ivory gown, careful not to trip on her grandmother’s gold chains. They looped from the braided gold girdle, adding a heaviness to her clothes that matched what was in her heart. Silver heeled slippers peeped out as she descended, and the gold and silver bells in her curled hair made muffled protests with each step. She’d cried in her bath, cried as her sisters and mother and grandmother all patted her and assured her that Destiny would prevail. She’d sobbed as they’d curled her hair, and was only sniffling by the time Galiana placed sliced cucumbers on her eyes.
    If she’d really been a witch, there would have been hell to pay.
    Falcon Keep was north, on the Scottish border. A rough and untamed land, much like Nicholas, she supposed. Celestia had never met anyone so nobly broken.
    Her mother and father waited at the bottom of the staircase, her grandmother, as well. The sound of the lute player out in the enclosed garden carried through the windows, and Celestia hurriedly lowered her eyes, determined to hide her pain from her family.
    “I have changed my mind. We can send you to my sister, Nan. Abner has a horse saddled for you,” her mother whispered in her ear.
    “Or you can go to the church. Surely Baron Peregrine can’t have you labeled a witch from within the nunnery’s walls.”
    “Father!” Celestia gasped. The consequences to a Montehue rebellion had been made clear.
    Her parents flanked her on either side. “Just say the word,” her mother said, gripping Celestia’s elbow so hard, she knew there would be a mark. “We will help you escape. But it has to be now.”
    Clearing her throat, she stopped walking and demanded quietly, “And what of you if I were to be so selfish? Hmm? Your reputations would be tainted. Gali and Ela still need bridal portions, and what about the twins? Nay.” Celestia lifted her chin and put her fist on her hip. “I will marry Sir Nicholas.”
    “But …” her mother said, letting the word fall from her lips.
    Taking a deep breath, Celestia accepted her father’s arm. She smiled brightly, yet falsely, as they walked out of the manor and into the colorful garden. He said in a low voice, “An accident can be arranged, if need be, daughter.”
    Saying nothing to that, she focused on the beautiful arbor, which had been entwined with flowers and ferns, and decorated with ribbons of gold. The sun shone its blessing down upon them, and butterflies added color and beauty wherever they landed. She nodded to everyone, right and left, coming to a halt before the priest.
    Sensing